Your home is in the perfect location in Victoria – it’s close to everything you want. There’s an excellent school nearby, fantastic parks to explore, entertainment, groceries, and everything the CRD has to offer, and you know the commute to work like the back of your hand. And then there’s the house itself — you have everyone’s height on the doorframe, the kid’s rooms, and all of the memories that make your house a home.
But you need more space.
Whether it’s children coming back home (sometimes with their own little ones) to live with you or you want to give your parents a safe space to live independently, your current house is just a bit too cramped to hold everyone. Or perhaps you’re looking at an investment opportunity and want to rent out a secondary suite for now and have it ready for in-home care or family at some point in the future. At MAC Renovations, we have a few options to help you find the space you need so you don’t have to move. Read on to find out what a home renovation can do for you.
For homes throughout Victoria and the surrounding communities, we can find a way to:
- Raise the roof: lift your existing home and build a new ground-floor level
- Blow out the walls: add more space by building an addition
- Grow a garden suite: build a self-contained accessory dwelling unit (ADU)
How Does MAC Renovations Lift a House in Victoria?
Like everything else we do, we start with a plan. We’ll look at everything that’s connected to the house, such as your services, like electrical, water, storm, and sanitary, as well as landscaping, siding, and windows. Once we gather this information, we’ll take a look at what can stay and what needs to be replaced or upgraded. For many of the homes serviced by water from the CRD, an upgrade of the main line into the home is required, especially if we’re adding more living space. As well, a house lift is a great time to do a seismic upgrade, extending the service life of your home.
Some of the homes in the Fairfield area of Victoria are great candidates for a house lift, as these homes are architecturally sound, have significant cultural value, and have a solid bedrock for us to build on.
Once we know what needs to be done, we can pull the required permits and then jack up the house to the desired height, pour in the new foundation and supports, upgrade the required services, and then bring in the crews to turn the blank canvas into the space you’ve always wanted.
Another huge benefit of lifting a home in Victoria is that it is more environmentally friendly. Instead of tearing down the old home and sending most of the materials to the landfill, we can build up: effectively doubling your square footage without taking away from your yard.
Expanding Your Space With a Building Addition in Victoria
If your property has the space, an addition can be a great way to help you add square footage to your home. We’ll look at your property to see what’s possible, then come up with a plan to add more space while preserving the original look of your home. Many of the additions we’ve done throughout Victoria seamlessly provide additional space and look like they’ve been there since the structure was first built.
An addition is an excellent option for larger lots throughout Victoria, but even many of the modest lots can benefit from a small addition. Extending your footprint by 15’ on the back or side of your home could get you 300 or more square feet to play with — and double if there’s more than one level — and with a creative design, this could be just the right amount of space to give you everything you want and need in your home.
Laneways and Garden Suites in Victoria
Throughout the CRD, nearly all of the municipalities allow for an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), and the few that don’t have imminent changes in the works for their bylaws. Victoria needs more rental spaces, and ADUs are a great way to create more units without sacrificing single-family homes.
There are many considerations about building ADUs, beyond the available space in the yard. We’ll need to look at the community to ensure parking and services are capable of handling the increased demand, what the zoning allows for, and what the final layout needs to be to create a private space for everyone. We look at how the property will be used by the people in the garden suite as well as the folks in the main house. For example, if someone living in the backyard comes home, there needs to be a route that ensures the security lighting doesn’t flood the primary bedroom in the middle of the night. It’s the little things that make a big difference, and with our significant experience in lifting homes, expanding houses, and building garden suites, our design and construction teams are pretty great at what we do.
More Space, More Opportunities for Your Home in Victoria
Home lifts and additions give you more than just bare rooms to fill. You can build your dream kitchen into the addition and then repurpose the old kitchen space, like a spa suite for the primary bedroom, an additional bedroom, a home office and gym, or anything else you want.
When you’re ready to add living space to your property, contact us to see why homeowners across Victoria choose us to do the job right.